Eggsmart — Restaurant in Kitchener

Father's Day Breakfast Fiasco at Eggsmart on King Street, Kitchener

Well, what can I say about my recent Father's Day breakfast at Eggsmart on King Street, Kitchener? If you’re looking for a comedy of errors, this place has it all. Here’s the play-by-play of the most disastrously amusing breakfast experience of my life.

Initial Wait: We waltzed in, ready to celebrate, only to be greeted with, "It’ll be a 20-minute wait for food." Ha! That was a joke. Over an hour later, and in a restaurant that was only half full, we were still waiting. The suspense was killing me.

Coffee Catastrophe: The coffee came quickly, but it tasted like they had brewed it using dishwater. Quite possibly the worst coffee I’ve ever had the misfortune of tasting.

Kids Menu Mayhem: I asked for two kids' menus and was grandly pointed to a grimy one lying on the table. Hygienic? Not even close.

Order Ordeal: After a breezy 30-minute wait, someone finally decided to take our order. The staff looked like deer in headlights, which didn’t instill much confidence. I asked for egg whites fried, but the waitress kept pushing scrambled or an omelette like a broken record. Eventually, the cook had to make a guest appearance, and I had to give him a mini cooking lesson on how to fry an egg. Should’ve seen the red flag waving, but I stayed.

More Waiting Woes: We waited another hour. My daughter's food arrived, but no utensils. I had to go on a quest for a knife and fork. Her eggs? Scrambled. Of course.

Food Fiasco: Finally, our food arrived just as my daughter finished hers. The butter looked like it had been rescued from the floor with bits and all. The chocolate chip pancakes were regular pancakes with a few chocolate chips tossed on top as an afterthought. The pièce de résistance? A piece of bacon that tasted like it had been stored since the last century.

Final Straw: I didn’t even ask for the bill. I marched over to the cashier, ready to escape. While paying, I noticed several take-out bags lounging on the floor with peoples names on them appalling !!

Overall: This place is the epitome of mismanagement. The staff desperately need training, both front and back of house.

Would I go back? Not even if they paid me. Would I recommend it? Only if you’re seeking the worst dining experience possible.

Eggsmart on King Street, Kitchener, you’ve outdone yourself. Worst...

EDITED

I'm going to leave my previous review below, because I guess it's still true as of the time it was posted, which was only 2 weeks ago. However...

Our most recent experience (Saturday, May 31) was absolutely terrible! Probably the worst service I've ever received in any restaurant, ever!

I received the wrong food, twice. Three times if you count their absolutely lame "correction" on attempt number three, which was throwing a handful of cold shredded cheese on my omelette.

The worst part - our server argued with me repeatedly, and blamed me for ordering the wrong thing, which I absolutely, 100% did not. I never did receive the actual correct food the way I ordered it.

I spent 2 decades in the restaurant business, so I'm pretty patient and understanding when it comes to mistakes. But I can't believe how we were treated on this visit!

Our server (who actually turned out to be the manager - Yikes!) was abhorrently rude at every turn, and then had the absolute audacity to present us with a full bill, with nothing removed for the multiple mistakes, plus another heaping side of rude attitude!

Rule #1 of restaurant management - don't argue with upset guests, just make it right!

We are not problematic customers, as evidenced by my previous review, and by my other reviews of other restaurants - I am most inclined to leave positive reviews. Mistakes happen, but there is no need for a rude attitude! This experience was so bad, it was surreal that any server, let alone a manager, would speak this way to a customer!

It will be a very long time, if ever, that we give this place another chance. What a shame, as we did have several good experiences before this one.

Visit at your own risk.

previous review*

This is a great breakfast place! We live within a short drive, and have visited quite a few times. There are many options to choose from on the menu - we haven't made our way through all of them yet, but everything we've tried has been wonderful!

The service has always been excellent as well!

We will continue to be...

The food is excellent, potatoes a little over salted, but the service was terrible. We’ve gone three times.

The first time we went it was pretty busy so it was understandable that the services was slow. (5 adults, 1 child, 1 infant)

The second time we went there were only a handful of people. Service was very slow, it seemed like most of the staff were just standing around. It was took over twenty minutes to get someone to take our drink orders so we ordered our food at the same time. Among other things we had to ask for our bill several times which took over 20 minutes. By the end of our time there everyone was very frustrated. (4 adults)

The third and final time was the worst by far. The restaurant only had 8 other customers (3 other tables), but still the service was incredibly slow. There was no music playing so it was awkwardly quiet. It took 15 minutes to order our drinks, when they came we were missing half of them. We asked for sugar and cream three times. We had to place our food orders twice, by the time our food came we still didn’t have half our drinks or the sugar and cream. We had to ask for our bills twice. We had to ask for cutlery as well, which we ended up taking from another table. There were only the two of us at the table, it wasn’t like it was a large party. The first bathroom I went in didn’t have toilet paper. It felt as though the staff running the restaurant had never been to a restaurant. (2 adults)

It’s a shame because the food is great, but who has 2 hours to spend struggling to get service in a half...